Biography
EARLY LIFE
When I was in primary school, my dad bought a piano for our church in Warri, so we would go to clean the church and from there, we took an interest in the choir. My father also wanted us to learn how to play the piano. So, right from there all these started. When I got to secondary school, I was part of the school choir and school band. During my early days and sojourn into music, I never knew I was going to be a musician. When I was in the University of Benin, I was part of a band. I was studying Theatre Arts and I was also part of a music band at the university. During my service year, I was also part of a music band.
CAREER
Dede Mabiaku is an Afrobeat, Highlife & Jazz musician. He is a protégé of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. For more than 10 years, he was an integral part of Fela's daily life and his band Egypt 80. Dede opened all Fela's local & international shows, performing on vocals and playing the saxophone. Dede tours with his band, The Underground African Sounds. He was a judge on the 2010 edition of the West African Idols. When I was working, I was also a member of a music group known as Labambam band in Owerri. We were performing all over Owerri and its environs. We had our regular gig at Concord Hotel. After then, I came to Lagos. All through that time, I never took music so seriously, I was still keen on practising what I studied in school, which is Theatre Arts. I was acting; when I won an award in 1987 as the best actor then, my interest in music started to increase. Then I started to look for how to settle well into music; that was when I met the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Back in secondary school, my band members and I used to call ourselves, ‘The Fela Boys’. He took me under his wings. I started performing with him and with the band. I was at his shows till he left us physically. I opened all his shows all over the world; I went on tours with him. It empowered me and emboldened me. He showed me what and how to do it. He showed me all the routes. I learned at the feet of the master. He gave me the opportunity to work with him, learn from him and through him. I was like his student and his child. Also, when I started my own band, the critical approach that comes with anything that has to do with Fela came with it. They saw it as a stigma but I saw it as a blessing. The genre of music that I am involved in is that which fights for the rights of people. And when you are in that place, it is very hot. Also, it is very difficult when you have a band in this part of the World and at a time when people prefer an artiste who goes into the studio to mix all sorts of things together and combine it with autotune. We don’t do club songs and praise-singing; our kind of song tells the truth to society, our service is to humanity and not money. He advises up-and-coming artistes to learn instruments; learn the act of musicianship so that we can start building the culture of music. It hurts to know that most children nowadays are not interested in learning to play instruments; they just want to jump into music.
PERSONAL LIFE
Of course, my parents kicked against it, especially my dad. My dad was the Iya Itsere (The prime minister). He was a much-respected person in the community and in the church, and here was his son becoming a rebel. They disowned me when they couldn’t break the bond between Fela and I. But all that didn’t deter me. Fela nicknamed me Mabia Kuti and he was planning to do a real naming ceremony for me. It was at that point that my dad begged me to come home after I didn’t go home for years to see my family. After I went back home, my dad told me something that I can never forget. He said, Fela was right and we were wrong; everything he taught you is true, hold on to them. Stardom robbed me of the freedom to do what I want to do, how I want to do it and when to do it.
Filmography
No filmography available for this person yet.
Box Office
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Popularity Score
Top 100% of African actors
